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Self publish or wait for the book deal?

Self publish now or wait for book deal with a traditional publisher?

This is a very common question I hear in the book publishing world

The answer: There is no right, wrong, or best way.

It depends on your goals and often you can have both…

Take for example, Alex and Bob, some clients I worked with last summer, who were so excited about their book, Getting to Hell Yes, they decided to produce their own ebook give it away for FREE!!! Sounds crazy, right? And sounds like they missed the boat for traditionally publishing, right?

Nope and nope!

By giving away their book (and selling it in Kindle format), their enthusiasm, their new audience and hence, their raised visibility, helped them land a book deal with a traditional publisher – which is exactly what they wanted.

Congrats again Alex Jamieson and Bob Gower!


How to Make a Good First Impression Online

Are you frustrated that people don’t “get” who you are or “what you are about” when they look at your website or social media profiles? Feel like your success and expertise don’t really come through when people check you out online?

What???

You know what I’m talking about when you look at others’ profiles or websites – and you just can’t quite figure out what they do. So you have to scroll and click and scroll and click (if you don’t give up) trying to better understand what they are about before you will decide to connect with them – or better yet – subscribe to their newsletter or buy their book or service?

Oh – I get it!

On the other hand, don’t you love it when you go to someone’s social media profiles or website and you instantly “get it”? The way they are portraying themselves online makes you quickly and easily want more of what they are sharing, teaching or offering – right? You excitedly hit “follow” or “connect” or offer up your email address to get their expert content delivered right to your email inbox!

Do you wonder what the secret is? How do some people make this terrific first impression so effortlessly, while others send mixed and confusing messages?

Wonder no more…there are the 3 simple changes that you can make online to instantly look like the expert you are?

Seriously, these 3 things have nothing to do with elevator pitches, or target audiences or even high-falutin’ technology! They are ludicrously simple improvements that can even be managed in less than a ½ hour.

The three things that you need to change or update are:

  1. Your picture
  2. Your bio
  3. Your CTA (Call To Action)

Sound too easy, or think you already have this covered? Or want to know more? Then dive into this downloadable “3 SIMPLE CHANGES TO INSTANTLY IMPROVE YOUR “EXPERT” STATUS ONLINE” guide – right now.

 

The easy-to-follow guide walks you through the best practices for each one of these elements, and breaks it down so you define who you are, what you’re about and why people should connect with you.

Once you are clear and consistent with these 3 key elements across your social media networks and on your website, it will be so much easier for your fans to value you as an expert, engage with you and help grow your platform.

Want to know more about building your platform for your next big book launch or creative project? Let’s schedule a “clarity call” and see if I can help.

 

Behind the “Seens” – Podcasting Advice from Phyllis Nichols

Phyllis Nichols of SoundAdvice Sales and Marketing is an amazing master of messaging and crafter of content. We’ve worked together on all things digital marketing and helping people get their message out for the past several years. On the heels of a record-breaking year launching podcasts for clients, Phyllis shares her advice about why you should consider podcasting and how to get started.  

Nancy: What is the difference you’re seeing in the type of client work you’re doing and in terms of content marketing in general?

Phyllis: Podcasting has been a game changer for us and the business obviously. It’s also been a game changer in how people can think about putting content together. Content marketing has a place and when it’s done well you get a good return but it’s a long game.

For some people depending on their team and their bandwidth and the way they like to communicate, creating content can be hard. Podcasting makes it easier. Most of us communicate much better verbally. We’re much more comfortable with that. We also come across better and more interesting than we might in written form. I could write an article with this information, but you and I having this conversation is ultimately much more interesting than anything I could ever write.

Nancy: What do you say to the person who’s says “I could never podcast because there is too much tech and investment involved.”?

Phyllis: The technology part was a legitimate issue a couple of years ago when podcasting was newer. In the early days of podcasting that was kind of true. You had to have some decent equipment and you had to understand some technology but today that is not true. You can start podcasting with your phone or with your laptop and a web-based app that doesn’t cost anything. Financially you don’t have to spend anything.

Nancy: Can people get into podcasting without having years of voice lessons or speaking lessons?

Phyllis: Podcasting is a really forgiving medium because it’s not live. You can sit down and record and you can pause, you can stop. You can redo it or you can edit it. Editing also takes out um’s and ah’s and pauses and background noise. You don’t have to be perfect. You don’t have to say everything just right because it’s not a one take situation.  I could do it two or three times until it sounded just the way I wanted.

Nancy: How do you help your podcast clients look professional or how do you help them go from recording a podcast to showing up on iTunes?

Phyllis: I started podcasting a couple years ago and I figured it all out on my own. We’ve figured out all the steps you have to do in the very beginning. There are a lot of things you have to do once. There are a few steps that aren’t complicated but have to be done right – in a specific order. It’s about getting your foundation set up right. Most people don’t have the expertise because it’s just a one-time thing. We help people get all that set up done.

(Ninja note!) Here’s something else I want I mention. iTunes is the biggest platform but it’s not the only one anymore. There are almost 30 when I last researched it. We put people get on multiple platforms. There’s a specific process to follow to get your podcast on iTunes etc. It’s not hard but it has to be done they way they want it. It’s the same Stitcher and Spotify and Google. Once you have that set up then every new podcast in the feed automatically gets uploaded to all of those places.

Nancy: People are already doing social media and blog posts so they wonder why do I need to do a podcast?  But as we learned from Laura Vanderkam, one of our mutual author clients, she attracted a completely different audience than she was capturing on all of those other platforms. It’s become a new way to meet people who process information differently.

Phyllis: There are people who will listen to podcasts who would never read a blog post and may never read your book. There’s also a really cool connection factor too. It’s a singular experience. When I’m listening to somebody on a podcast it’s just me and them.

One of our podcasters went to an event not related to her podcast. Somebody behind her heard her talking and recognized her voice. That level of relationship building is powerful. It can be done in other ways, but it would be much harder and certainly much more expensive. Think about what it would take to speak in front of 20 intimate groups. It would require a lot more money and time and energy.

Nancy: What do you say to people who say it’s too late – everybody has a podcast?

Phyllis: It’s just not true and this isn’t me saying this. It’s industry people and people who track trends. Recently, Spotify announced they are planning to invest five hundred million dollars in podcasting in 2019. They want to be the place to go for all audio content. Adweek is tracking marketing dollars and comparing it to early stage internet advertising. They think this is just the beginning. So it’s not too late.

Nancy: What are the trends in podcasting and audio content?

Phyllis: One of the big drivers are the home devices like Alexa and Google Home. You can listen to podcasts there now too. You don’t even have to own one of the devices. You can use the app on your phone.

Amazon announced that over a hundred million of the devices have been purchased and are being used. That doesn’t count the people just using the app. That’s 100 million new people and these devices are in our home. Audience potential is crazy big and keeps growing.

Nancy: What if a person wants to test the water first, and be interviewed on a podcast? How does one get on a podcast as a guest?

Phyllis: With new podcasts being started come opportunities for conversations. Look for podcasts that are going to cover topics that you would like to talk about with an audience that’s similar to your target audience. Not competing interests but overlapping interests. Listen to the podcast to make sure you’re a good fit. Then pitch them an idea. Many podcasters have a form on their website for you to fill out if you want to be a guest.

A lot of podcasters are actively looking for interesting guests to talk to and most will appreciate a well thought out idea. You could take one or two hours once a month and identify four or five podcasts you’d like to be on and either fill out the forms or send a nice email. Think how cool it is to expand your network. It’s a really great way to expand how we’re connecting with people.

Nancy: And how often should people create and post their podcast? Also, is there an ideal time length?

Phyllis: Frequency and consistency help, so once a week is a good place to start.  As for length of podcast it should be however long it takes for you to be interesting and get your point across in a good way. Also be aware of your audience and where and how they listen.

Nancy: What’s the best way to find you? What’s the best way to learn more about getting started with podcasting?

Phyllis: If anyone is interested and want to find out a little more information you can go to the website SoundAdvice Sales and Marketing and download the Getting Started Guide. It will walk you through all the things related to getting started. Feel free to reach out to me there or on Facebook

If you know you want to do a podcast, I would encourage you to start recording. You can share info on your own or start having a few good conversations and hit the record button. The more you do it the better you get at it. The more fun you have and the more you do it, the easier it’s going to feel to you.

Nancy: Ultimately, it’s great advice to just get started. I want to see more people creating these conversations in more intimate ways and podcasting is a good way to go. Thank you for helping people do that.

Phyllis: Thank you Nancy! Someday, I hope that I’m going to be able to hear your podcast!

Nancy: Watch this space . . .

 

Are you interested in podcasting? Have you already started or been a guest? Want to learn more or plan out your content? Let’s connect and figure out how you can take your expertise to the next level with new audiences.

Behind the “Seens” with Patty Lennon

Tune in for our chat about purpose and planning through the lens of marketing. This is the perfect time of year to get your plan together – but don’t make it harder than it should be. Patty has some great advice to keep it simple to make you successful.

Nancy: Patty is an amazing coach and with a special sense of woo, who provides coaching and support for women in business. She is practical and wise and incredibly intuitive. Patty, tell us more…

Patty: I work with purpose driven entrepreneurs, who started their business from a place of meaning instead of money. They are typically coaches, or consultants or other types of service providers. At the heart of what we do – if you are clear about your purpose it’s so much easier to decide what’s right for us in our business. That’s part of the soul-aligned work that I do.

But you also know I’m a crazy person when it comes to planning because almost everything we want to achieve in life is possible (exceptions are big asks like being Oprah or going to the moon!) and achievable. Getting your brain on board with this comes from having a solid plan in place.

Nancy: How do you connect? What are you doing right now in YOUR marketing? Take use “behind the seens” and share your secret sauce.

Patty: Connection is exactly the right word. To me, marketing is about finding ways to be in a relationship with the people you serve in a way that is of service to them in that process. Then they can connect with me and understand if I can be a solution for them.

Behind the scenes, I’m always trying to figure out how do I go deeper not wider. When we’re talking marketing, I’m always in favor of deeper. I’d rather see someone do one thing in person than six things online. Online is beautiful but you have to find a way to connect with someone with the online method or it won’t have the juice, it just won’t have any power.

Nancy: Is that something you’re doing for yourself and your business? Anything new that you are doing now that you weren’t doing last year?

Patty: Something super recent; I decided to open up a Facebook group. I’d been resistant to doing it because it didn’t seem like a good place to connect with people. The more I got to see some examples of some people doing it really well convinced me to launch it.

I had a private Facebook group for a community of people who were paying for it and I really liked the engagement there. But I wanted a way to interact with people in a community sense that had an easier touch factor.

I love in person, but this felt like a really good way to do that and start creating a community.

Nancy: Where can people find your community?

Patty: It’s Wealth & Purpose, and you can find it on Facebook here or go to Patty Lennon on Facebook and you can find the link there.

Nancy: Switching gears a bit, it’s the beginning of the year and people are thinking about what they want to do, maybe what they didn’t do last year. They may be thinking about their goals, and the things they want to happen. That means marketing and overwhelm. What advice would you share to help people get started?

Patty: Energetically the new year is really starting right now so there’s no need to feel behind. You are ahead of the game!

Here are the 3 key points I share in my marketing program:

  • If you feel overwhelmed it’s a sign that there is too much on your plate. You have to eliminate things. In marketing that means reduce the number of things you are selling. You are trying to offer too many variations of who you are.
  • Second, narrow down your market to one two or three options.
  • Third, and you know what I say – it has to go on the calendar. If it doesn’t go on the calendar it doesn’t get done.

Nancy: Is there a perfect plan? Do you suggest that we plan for the whole year or what is your philosophy and advice on that? 90 days and pivot, a whole year and revise? What do you teach people to do?

Patty: I think there is something helpful for planning longer term, but I tell people that if you’re going to do that it has to be at the 10,000 foot level. I think the perfect time frame for most people is 90 days. Especially if you have some kind of online marketing component as part of your process. Everything changes quickly so I feel like 90 days is perfect, otherwise you’d be re-writing your plan when what was working changes or new options become available.

It’s a little bit different if you have a team. If other people are going to be handling most of the moving parts, then you do have to get a bit more detailed.

So, figure out where you want to be at the end of the year. Then create quarterly goals that support that. You can be detailed about what you’ll be selling and how that will work and look. That also allows for longer term opportunities come up like speaking or events then you have some visibility to what to pitch as your topic or what areas of your expertise you want to highlight.

Nancy: That’s helpful. It also takes the pressure off knowing you don’t have to write the perfect plan for the entire year. This is a great teaser for those who haven’t experienced your training. As someone who has, I know how helpful it is!

Be sure to connect with Patty on her website.

What Are You Planning For This Year?

Imagine the possibilities, then plan to make them happen.

Whether you are a resolute resolution maker, a pensive planner or an ambitious task master, most people treat the beginning of the new year as an opportunity to plan for big things. If you are in the midst of your big planning and need some direction, here are several resources and approaches I found to be very helpful:

> Best of Both Worlds – Designing You 2019: In this podcast episode, hosts Laura Vanderkam and Sarah Hart Unger and reflect on their goals for 2018 and look forward to the new year. What I like about their approach in goal setting is that they break the year into quarters (or quintiles in Sarah’s case) and make goals for the different categories of their lives. This pragmatic and balanced approach is appealing because it provides the path to success and gives a great sense of what your year will look like. Listen here.

> #AmWriting – 2019 Goals: Writers and podcasters, Jess Lahey and K.J. dell Antonia look at their goal setting and planning through the lens of their writing projects. Less quantitative and more qualitative, Jess and KJ blur the lines of personal and professional and treat their goals as the benchmark for which they can answer the questions, “Is this work that I am doing helping me to get to my goal this year?” Tune in here.

> Three Goal Setting Secrets (Most People Don’t Know): This upbeat blog post from author and coach Kate Hanley is an approachable and inspiring “how-to” make your goals become a reality. It’s not too detailed and doesn’t involve lots of tools, calendars and planners. It really is more about the action you take and your mindset. Learn the secrets here.

> One Word – Figuring out my one word for the year, has been an exercise that I have been doing for the past three years. The premise is that you take a very serious look at where you life is now and where you want it to go. And with reflection and discernment, your one word will come to you that should help to inspire and guide you for the year. [My word for 2019 is IMAGINE!] Learn more about “getoneword” here.

I have loosely created my own hybrid of planning using the best of all three of these this year.

One thing I did do differently this year was to go back and thoughtfully reflect on the past year. As opposed to focusing on all the things that didn’t happen, I earnestly focused on what did happen, why it happened and bring success into this year’s planning from the start. It was a valuable exercise in getting my head in the right space and my heart feeling gracious for all that is going well.

So onward we go! Whatever your approach to resolutions, goal setting and planning is, know that there is no right way. What is important, however, is that you’re do something – to guide your year to help you create the life you want to be living. It’s time to finish your book, redesign your website, start your podcast, get those lucrative speaking gigs, and let more of the world hear your message!

It’s not too late, we’ve still got 11+ months of 2019 to make things happen, so let’s get started now.

What’s your approach to planning your year? Don’t have one or are you getting stuck? I’d love to hear more about it and see how I can help. Leave a comment, shoot me an email or give me a call.